Sneijder wound his shot around a wall in the 73rd minute and Eto'o found the target in added time to end Inter's four-match winless streak against Sampdoria at Luigi Ferraris stadium.

In the second half, Sneijder was especially sharp, with the Netherlands playmaker nearly making it 2-0 with another free kick that bounced off the post in the 80th.

Likewise, Sampdoria midfielder Andrea Poli hit the post in the 43rd, as the hosts created more than Inter in the first half.

Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar was also sharp after taking the blame for the Champions League loss to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Inter moved within two points of city rival AC Milan, which hosts third-place Napoli on Monday.

Earlier, Udinese moved within one point of the Champions League places with a 7-0 rout of nine-man Palermo, a result which will likely lead to the removal of Palermo manager Delio Rossi.

Chile forward Alexis Sanchez scored four times at the Sicilian club's Renzo Barbera stadium and Antonio Di Natale added a hat trick to raise his season total to 21, moving past Napoli's Edinson Cavani for the Serie A scoring lead.

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini said Rossi has a "one percent chance" of staying on.

Elsewhere, former Juventus forward Amauri scored two late goals as Parma came back to draw 2-2 at Roma and spoil Vincenzo Montella's home debut as Roma manager.

Roma had gone ahead with a penalty from captain Francesco Totti, who was playing in his 600th match with his hometown club, and another first-half strike from Brazil defender Juan.

Roma also lost key midfielder David Pizarro to an apparent injury.

Montella, who replaced Claudio Ranieri on Monday, pointed out that Roma has allowed 24 goals in the final half hour this season.

Roma's city rival Lazio lost 1-0 at Cagliari due to a horrendous own goal from defender Andre Dias.

Also, it was: Bari 1, Fiorentina 1; Brescia 2, Lecce 2; and Cesena 1, Chievo Verona 0.

In the lunchtime fixture, Catania moved four points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Genoa in a match that included four expulsions and left Genoa depleted for its game against Inter next weekend.

In Madrid, Valencia tightened their grip on third spot in la Liga and an automatic Champions League berth when new signing Jonas came off the bench to secure a 2-1 comeback victory at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Fourth-placed Villarreal twice came from behind to rescue a 2-2 draw at Racing Santander and Valencia's victory stretched their lead over their local rivals to four points with 25 matches played.

Valencia have 51 points, 10 behind second-placed Real Madrid, who slipped seven behind leaders Barcelona when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Deportivo Coruna on Saturday.

World Player of the Year Lionel Messi netted a rare header to set Barca on their way to a 3-0 win at Real Mallorca and lift the champions to 68 points.

At a typically boisterous San Mames, Bilbao looked set to end a run of two straight defeats when Spain striker Fernando Llorente put the home side ahead in the 14th minute.

Racing, meanwhile, are undefeated since Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed completed his takeover of the club at the end of January and stayed in 12th on 29 points, five clear of the relegation places.

In Berlin, Sebastian Proedl scored in injury time to give Werder Bremen a 2-2 home draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Sunday, sparking scenes of celebration at the relegation-threatened club.

The Austrian defender headed the ball past Rene Adler in the 91st minute, eight minutes after Stefan Kiessling's own goal gave hope to the home side.

Eren Derdiyok and Simon Rolfes had scored for Leverkusen.

With ten games remaining, Bremen is 15th on 25 points, one above Kaiserslautern in the relegation playoff place.

Leverkusen remains second, 12 points behind Borussia Dortmund.

Earlier, Tamas Hajnal secured a 2-0 victory for 10-man Stuttgart at Eintracht Frankfurt, condemning the hosts to a fourth straight home defeat.